Google: We Don't Endorse Offensive Michelle Obama Photo

Google is attempting to explain why an offensive photo of Michelle Obama is one of the first to come up when searching for pictures of the first lady on its image site.

One of the first images returned in a search of Michelle Obama's name on Google images shows a photo of a monkey superimposed over her face.

_____________

More top stories:

• Photos: Michelle Obama's Fashion Choices
• Three Guilty in Running Sex Ring
• Jennifer Hudson to Sing at White House

_____________

Google had allegedly removed the image last week saying that the site hosting the image violated Google’s guidelines by serving malware to visitors. But a search Tuesday still returned the image as a result.

Google purchased an ad on its site saying results can include disturbing content and the views expressed by such sites were not endorsed by Google. A similar disclaimer appears when searching for other terms, such as "Jew."

View the image in question at images.google.com (warning: offensive material).

--------------

Text from Google's ad:

"Sometimes Google search results from the Internet can include disturbing content, even from innocuous queries. We assure you that the views expressed by such sites are not in any way endorsed by Google.

Search engines are a reflection of the content and information that is available on the Internet. A site's ranking in Google's search results relies heavily on computer algorithms using thousands of factors to calculate a page's relevance to a given query.

The beliefs and preferences of those who work at Google, as well as the opinions of the general public, do not determine or impact our search results. Individual citizens and public interest groups do periodically urge us to remove particular links or otherwise adjust search results. Although Google reserves the right to address such requests individually, Google views the integrity of our search results as an extremely important priority. Accordingly, we do not remove a page from our search results simply because its content is unpopular or because we receive complaints concerning it. We will, however, remove pages from our results if we believe the page (or its site) violates our Webmaster Guidelines, if we believe we are required to do so by law, or at the request of the webmaster who is responsible for the page.

We apologize if you've had an upsetting experience using Google. We hope you understand our position regarding offensive results.

Sincerely,
The Google Team"